Jap-Engrish

What on earth...??





O_o



i think i finally came to somewhat understand the novelty of English in Japan, by comparing how North American cultures seem to like having asian kanji/characters from other foreign languages printed on clothing/bags/accessories alike. i guess it makes sense in that regard...it's interesting, albeit not always in a very profound way.

being a "banana" myself (i'm Chinese but couldn't read a lick of it to save my life), i always made sure to ask the meaning/significance of whatever kanji were on a piece of clothing that i bought. especially after hearing about a severe case where someone had a "cool looking" kanji tattooed on himself, only to find out from some random observer one day that it meant "kitchen". i'm pretty sure the recipient of that brilliant work of art didn't have the career of chef in mind when he got it.

in any case, i bought these few for fun:



(front)


uh, what are they trying to say here? maybe reading what's on the back of the shirt would help...



(back)



...or not.


this last one is actually the first grammatical monstrosity that i bought, but it actually sorta makes sense:


(from Okinawa)



Translation: Beware the f.. .....

aah...you figure it out. =P

Goya anyone?

"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery"



if the above is true...then I'm sure Adi Dasler would be blushing:





This one's from Okinawa...one of the first places i started the mass t-shirt collection. Visited this southern-most "main" island of Japan in October/November of 2006, the first domestic flight i would take in Japan during my time here. some highlights of the trip would include cheap bacon sandwiches for breakfast, parades outside of Shurijo Castle, climbing trees outside the Okinawa Aquarium, scuba diving, catching a sunset from the cliffs, and drunken bhangra singing/dancing in the streets.

"Goya" or Bitter Melon is one of the staple foods of this region, and is recognized for it's health benefits which have led to the Okinawans being recognized as having some of the longest life-expectancies on Earth.

so i guess wearing this shirt will make me live longer...?